The operating performance of a machine such as an off-road vehicle, dump truck, material handler, etc. is dependent on the forces, such as contact pressure, between the wheels of the machine and the surface of the ground through a tire. The forces on the wheel affect the contact pressure. To monitor the forces on a wheel, a force monitoring device is typically attached to the wheel. The device rotating together with the wheel partially measures some of the forces applied on the wheel. An example of such a force monitoring device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,096,173 (hereafter “the '173 patent”), entitled “Tire Action Force Detecting Device.” The '173 patent is generally directed to an apparatus to detect a force acting on a tire, based on a stress on a connection mechanism that connects a wheel and a wheel supporting member.
The device disclosed in the '173 patent is generally applied to a light weight vehicle such as an automobile. A conventional force measurement device as in the '173 patent is designed to capture forces through a wheel during rotation of the wheel in a vehicle. However, a conventional force measurement device as in the '173 patent is not designed to fully and accurately capture longitudinal and lateral mechanical forces and moments through the width of a wheel during rotation of the wheel in a heavy duty machine Such known devices are typically designed for measuring a limited number of forces and moments on a wheel of an automobile and do not fully and accurately capture the change of forces occurring during rotation of a wheel, such as in a heavy duty machine.
As a result, there is a need for a device, a process, and a transducer that can capture forces and moments of a wheel more fully and accurately and/or more fully and accurately in a heavy duty machine.